Misery of IDPs in Vanni untold due to media restrictions
Amidst tight restrictions by the Government of Sri Lanka on access to Vanni and coverage by media personnel, the tragedy that has unfolded in Vanni region largely remains untold to the out side world, the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in a statement today.
Fleeing Internally Displaced Persons live in open spaces in Vanni
Full Text of the statement:
IDPs unseen
The latest estimate of the number of IDPs inside Vanni is around 110,000 and 35,000 of them are preschool and school children. People moving with their possessions in carts and tractor-trailers on the roads are a common sight in Vanni.
The rain is multiplying the woes of the IDPs
Indeed several schools have displaced too. Schools that are not displaced must now intake the displacing children and teachers. The chaos and workload has forced the even the schools that are not displaced to halt their end of term examinations.
With the Sri Lankan Government artificially creating severe shortages in Vanni there are long delays in providing even the very basics like food to the displaced people. To bring the IDPs under a decent roof could take several months. Even INGOs are struggling with shortages in their efforts to assist the IDPs as a result of restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Government.
As if to multiply the woes of the IDPs, Kilinochchi has already seen several days of rain since the latest wave of displacement to Kilinochchi began. The problems faced by the IDPs must be seen to be believed.
Yet, the woes of the IDPs remain mostly unseen due to the imposition of fuel restrictions because local media personnel in Vanni are also suffering the same fuel shortage faced by everyone else.
Neither are the international media present in Vanni to cover the disaster.
